Abstract: A voltage regulator provides a regulated voltage to a double data rate (DDR) Physical Interface (PHY) including a plurality of delay elements. The voltage regulator includes: an amplifier, for receiving a voltage at a first input terminal and generating an output voltage; a first MOSFET coupled to a supply voltage and a second input terminal of the amplifier; a second MOSFET coupled in parallel with the first MOSFET for generating a first current in response to a first enable signal; a load, coupled to the first MOSFET and the second MOSFET, for generating the regulated voltage; and a load capacitor, coupled in parallel with the load. The first enable signal is generated by inputting a gate enable signal for a delay element of the plurality of delay elements into a delay circuit corresponding to the delay element.

Abstract: The present invention provides a physical layer and associated signal processing method for clock domain transfer of quarter-rate data. In the embodiments of the present invention, the quarter-rate data is processed by many sampling circuits by using a first clock signal, a second clock signal and a third clock signal, and phases of these clock signals are aligned by using a training mechanism to that the clock signals have better timing margins.

Abstract: A level shifter and an electronic device are provided. The electronic device includes a digital circuit and a level shifter. The level shifter converts a first and a second input signals to an output signal. The level shifter includes a cross-coupled circuit, a protection circuit, and a pull-down module. The cross-coupled circuit includes a first and a second pull-up transistors. The protection circuit includes a first and a second protection transistors. The pull-down module includes a first and a second pull-down circuits and a first and a second switching circuits. The first and the second pull-up transistors, the first and the second protection transistors, and the first and the second pull-down circuits are selectively switched on in response to the first and the second input signals. The digital circuit receives the output signal from the level shifter.

Abstract: The present invention provides a physical layer and associated signal processing method for clock domain transfer of quarter-rate data.

Abstract: A method for performing duty-cycle correction of an output clock in a Double Data Rate (DDR) system includes: setting a fixed delay of a rising-edge of the output clock as a parameter X which is equal to a digital Master Delay Locked Loop (MDLL) code of the DDR system multiplied by a percentage representing an estimated distortion of the duty-cycle of the output clock from a desired duty-cycle; shifting the rising-edge of the output clock by the fixed delay; and determining whether a duty cycle of the shifted output clock meets the desired duty-cycle. When a duty-cycle of the shifted output clock meets the desired duty-cycle, the fixed rising-edge delay is taken as a final delay code for the output clock; otherwise, a falling-edge of the output clock is shifted by an amount in a range between 0 and NX, wherein N is an integer.